Targeting an issue for Mountain West officials this year

Ejections come this year with illegal hits

By Mike Brohard Sports Editor

Posted:
07/22/2013 07:30:51 PM MDT

LAS VEGAS -- Walt Anderson knows there are host of rule changes for college football this year, and the Big 12 officials coordinator has found through his travels around the country, one will most definitely drive the emotions of fans and players alike.

Targeting.

"The key is differentiating between illegal contact that's too the head and legal contact that may occur as a matter of being incidental to the game," he said. "That's been our charge with officials and coaches. The reality is that there are too many high hits being made."

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Simply put, Anderson said there is a culture of intimidation and intent that does not need to be part of the game.

Anderson, who has been an NFL official since 1996 and a head official in that league since 2003, said this isn't a new rule. What is changing is officials are focusing on the enforcement of it, and to push their point, a player flagged for targeting will be ejected from the game. A player will miss the remainder of the game, and if the infraction happens in the second half, will also miss the first half of the next game.

Officials have been teaching coaches and players which triggers will earn a flag and which won't. Anderson said either side of the equation has four.

If a player launches (leaves his feet and goes high), thrusts (aiming high while still on his feet), strikes (using any part of the body to hit above the shoulders) and/or crowns (using the crown of the helmet anywhere on the body), it's a penalty.

On the flip side, a player with his head up, who wraps up, puts his head to the side and does his best to change his position while a player is defenseless should be in the clear.

"Did he clear it up for you, because we're still confused," Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter said.

That's where some of the players sit, too.

"It's just hard when it's only in certain situations when a receiver is opened up, going over the middle and you have a perfect shot," CSU linebacker Shaquil Barrett said. "That's pretty much the only hard time. Don't lead with your head and just be safe with it. Don't get your team 15 yards by trying to make a hard hit late. Just make a hard hit doing the right thing."

The other major change deals with blocking below the waist, and the rules committee has tried to narrow down the perimeters where it is legal. By rule, a head-on block within the tackle box (think tight end to tight end, five yards back either way) is legal. All other forms of the block, such as in crack-backs and peel-backs, are illegal.

Other key changes:

The helmet rule: Last year when a player lost his head gear, he had to sit the next play. This year, that's still the case, but a coach can burn a timeout to have that player eligible for the next play.

10-second run-off rule: The same as above. Last year when a player was injured in the final minute, 10 seconds were run off the clock. This year, teams can call a timeout to save that time.

In the cards -- Utah State's media department has created football cards of quarterback Chuckie Keeton to help draw some attention to the junior. He has been put on the Heismanpudit/CBSsports.com Heisman Trophy watch list after setting school records with 3,372 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 3,992 yards of total offense in 2012 while becoming the WAC offensive player of the year.

USU sports information director Doug Hoffman said it is the first time a school has touted a player in such a manner. He said the idea initially came about last fall, and when Keeton was placed on early Heisman watch lists, the plan to brand Keeton and the program as well was put in motion.

"It's an exciting feeling right now," Keeton said. "It's incredible. I know one thing I wanted to do when I first got here was to go down in history for something, so thankfully it's something good."

Good sign or not -- In the 15-year existence of the Mountain West, the media has only correctly picked the eventual conference champion correct six times, including ties. The media has been right three of the past four years.

Schedule -- The players did all of their interviews today, including promotional shots for the league's television partners and public service announcements. All of them were scheduled to fly back tonight. Coaches will go through their sessions Tuesday. Unlike the SEC media event, where more than 1,200 credentials were issued, just a tad more than 200 were dealt out at Vegas, saving a lot of vocal chords.